February 2017 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

February 26, 2017

Computers and Quilting – Not a good mix!

Here I am on Sunday 26 Feb 2017 and I have had one of those weeks! No wonder someone came up with the idea of a Quilting RETREAT! Somewhere we do not use computers, phones, cook, clean, handle problems, etc. What a great idea! So a week ago Friday I told myself (again) ‘just 5 days Lord, 5 days without interruptions, etc’! Well, he gave me 3 days…. Then the unforeseen requirements hit. Tuesday was a house cleaning day and I assumed (oops) that Wednesday would be a good day to applique and get the last of Stonefield’s Section 4 finished.

What was I thinking? Wednesday started out OK but I made the mistake of thinking I could get my taxes out-of-the-way then sit and relax! WRONG. After I loaded Turbo Tax I began to have issues with the computer and within 15 minutes my hard drive died!!! (yes I have a backup of documents, etc) I have reformatted and reinstalled operating systems on PC’s but never on our Apple computers. This was a learning lesson – the lesson being that Apple support is not the greatest if one does not know more than the person on the other end. Always ask for a 2nd level technician when obtaining computer support. Now I can be certified to work on Apple computers – YEA! Six hours later we had a new Solid State Disk on the way! I thought that I was through with problems for the week – what a joke!

I received my quilting frame from Grace and good ole’ UPS must have been playing ball with the box (which was not the best one to send 67 pounds of wood to me) as it had holes in the box and pretty beat up. Bottom line – I sent that one back and now waiting for a new one that I will stain and finish. Wednesday was such a fun day – may I never have another one like that!

Thursday. Hum – all I can remember is that we picked up the Town Car that had 2 computer modules that had gone belly up and remembering how the check book was beginning to cry a lot! I did get my Oh Glory quilted along with all of the A Bountiful Life ready for applique (4 more). Good ole Stonefield’s remaining blocks of Section 4 had some “fabric selection” problems so they will be finished tonight!

Now Saturday was a day to remember – The new hard drive arrived Friday so the plan was to format the hard drive using my other Apple computer to make sure there would be not issues. Well 30 minutes into that computer something went wrong after I downloaded Google Chrome……………long story very short – that one took 6 hours and ultimately I erased the hard drive (I BLEACHED IT!) It took 14 hours but it erased the disk 7 times to make sure there were not bugs OR DATA on the drive. This morning I re-installed everything only to have the same problem. The mouse and key pad were not letting me control the computer. In steps my hardware guy (hubby) who figured out that the keypad was stuck for some reason. He found that the battery was old and was pushing on the keypad on the laptop keeping it pressed down all the time – fixed in 30 minutes. So now I have lost some data and files on that computer because the idiots told me to reformat and reinstall. Grrrrrrrrr. But now all is settled down and I am downloading some updates on the “Wednesday” computer problem, but there will be more time to do some downloading of my documents and pictures once the upgrades are done. I need to get out of retirement and start a computer business – I am just having too much fun in retirement!

Now on to quilting! Clay and I had ordered some fatigue mats and they are wonderful. Great for the long arm area and my cutting table. (Check book was crying on this acquisition also! but they are worth every penny!)

I did get one thing accomplished – Oh Glory is quilted!!!! YEA! I do free motion quilting and on this quilt I tried to get creative. I will work on doing curved lines, but basically I am pleased. It is a utility quilt and probably will be hung on my wall in my Studio.

Morale of this post is that one cannot count on having 5 days straight to quilt without the roof caving or those nasty unforeseen requirements. I can hardly wait to get to the Dallas Show and my favorite Casino where I can drain my brain and come home refreshed and quilt!

I hope that everyone is enjoying a peaceful quiet day stitching. I am headed for the other room to finish my 3 remaining Stonefield’s blocks!

PS – weather is hot! Winter is no more!

February 19, 2017February 19, 2017

Decisions, Decisions, and a Grace Quilting Frame

I started the year out with 17 UFOs that I wanted to finish. I met my January goals, and looks like I will meet my February goals. I have decided to not continue with RSC 2017 this year because there are 3 quilt shows that I want to enter in 2018. They are the Dallas, New Braunfels, and Austin Texas shows. It will be nice to visit the Dallas Show so I can get a feel for the Judges and the show set up. I have shown before in NB and Austin. In order to do this I must stay focused on 4 quilts that I want to show. Three would be appliqued and hand quilted and the 4th is going to be Robin’s Nest. I could show in the San Antonio Show this year, but would need to send 2 quilts to a professional. I will ponder on this one as I have plenty of time to decide and the quilt tops are already finished! In place of the RSC 2017 project, I am going to work on the Quiltmania 2017 Mystery Quilt.

I have been in an “Indecisive” mode for a while, but finally getting over that and am making progress – more than I had last year! This last week I have caught up with Margaret Potts BAS BOM. (I am doing this post on my iPad so the pictures are not the best)

Yesterday the BAS newsletter was posted and so now I have one more block to do soon in order to stay current!

Along with catching up on Ms Potts, I wanted to finish prepping the 4 Bountiful Life blocks for applique. I have all four backgrounds traced, and two blocks ready to applique. Tomorrow I will finish selecting a few fabrics for the flowers and they will be ready for applique. When I first started appliquéing I used the “blue marker” but I had one issue and I only use a number 2 pencil to trace the pattern on the background fabric. As you can see, I do not use glue or starch, I use freezer paper and needle turn the pieces. I do not baste the pieces either. I work with glass head applique pins to keep each piece in place.

Vase Fabric – Need to finish leaf fabric pieces

One day last week I read Happy To Be Scrappy (Deb) where posted that she decided to purchase a Grace hand quilting frame. She is such a bad influence on me as a lot of Blogger’s are! LOL. I had not hand quilted a quit since 2013 and every time I read a post from another blogger who had their quilts in a quilt frame I thought about my applique quilts. I will not have them machine quilted every though there are any quilters who do.

So I went to the Grace website and fell in love with the Z44. It would be great to have a frame like this where I can adjust it in 6 different positions which would make it easier for me with my Fibro and back issues. They have a great video for the Z44 hand quilting frame. Check it out. I worked with Karla when I ordered the frame.

At first I thought I was nuts for doing this, but then realized that I wanted to enter Quilt Shows again after a 3 year hiatus and that I would need this frame for my applique quilts!

Well, this post is lengthier than I thought it would be, but I am very pleased that in the first 2 months of this year I am well on my way to catching up on projects and have a goal in mind for 2018! Now let’s see if I am able to maintain this momentum.

Have a great week all!

February 12, 2017

Margaret Potts and Stonefields, 3 Quiet Days, and Dallas Quilt Show

Greetings from sunny/no sun/ hot/ LV Texas! Well, guess winter is over, although the Mesquite trees are not blooming yet…. so maybe there is hope for some cooler days later in the month.

I am so excited. For the last days it has been so nice and quiet and absolutely no problems have hit us. It has been a long time that since I have had such peace of mind and spirit! Thank You God!

On Wednesday Clay and I took a day trip to the Corpus Christi area to pick up my son’s remains. It was a good day and a very peaceful feeling came over me that is still with me! Richard loved the Ocean but I would not give him up to it. I wanted to bring him home with me and we did. I love the Ocean and we were able to have time to sit by the bay in Rockport, watch the Sea Gulls and look out over the water where the sky and water meet. So refreshing. We stayed in Rockport to visit with a grade school friend and enjoy a leisure supper at a local eatery.

This was our first trip in the Navigator and boy did we have a fun time trying to use the GPS in a vehicle! Everything went well until the return trip. I am very familiar with the Corpus Christi area but not Ingleside where we had eaten supper. Bonnie advised us to not take the same route home that we did earlier in the day coming to Ingleside. She said that there were too many wrecks, so at ‘dark thirty’ we were trying to figure which way to go to Portland, Gregory, and then on to Corpus Christi, where we would take IH 37 home. The lady in the GPS just did not want us to go that way so we finally just entered in Portland and we were off! What a Hoot that was trying to remove the route from the GPS. The lady would just not shut up – finally we figured that one out and we arrived in Portland and from there I knew the way home – over the Corpus Christi HIGH Bridge and on to IH-37! I remember when I lived in Corpus in the ’60’s that I did not like the HIGH bridge – I learned a trick – if you do not like to go over high bridges and see how high you are from the water, only go over them at dark thirty – you do not see how high you are from the water!!!!!

Friday I spent a couple of hours planning a trip to the Dallas Quilt Show in March, a few days at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, and then off to the Mineral Wells area to visit friends of ours. This will be a great week of fun and visiting friends! We will be traveling in the Navigator – so much easier that hooking up a 36′ 5th wheel and packing up the house!!!

The Dallas Quilt Show is one that I have wanted to enter a quilt since 2014, but life got in the way, so now my goal is to enter the show in March 2018! Guess I had better keep my fingers crossed on this wish. Never thought I would wish for a dull quiet year, but that is what I am wanting this year – it would be great!

Progress has been made on my applique projects. I finished Blocks 14, 16, and 18 of Margaret Potts Quilt. Now I have only 2 more to applique and will be current with that monthly project. YEA. (Blocks are 10 1/2″ unfinished)

I also changed the middle flower buds on one of the blocks in Stonefields quilt, Section 4. There is a lot more work to do to complete this Section. Hopefully by the end of February I will be through and ready to go to Section 5. I would love to have this one ready for next year! (Blocks are 6 1/2″ unfinished)

I am still in a quandary as to which quilt to make with RSC 2016. So hopefully when I am caught up on the applique projects I will feel more like making that decision. WHOOPS – forgot Oh Glory is still patiently waiting loaded and ready to be quilted in the long arm. Humm

I hope that everyone is having a good week-end. I am headed back to the table to finish 2 more Margaret Blocks and 3 Stonefields blocks. Easy blocks, and hoping to have them complete by Tuesday as Wednesday will be San Antonio Rodeo day. It will be the coolest day of the week and I do not do Rodeo grounds in 89 degree weather! We are “supposed” to get rain starting today (ha ha) and Monday and Tuesday. Time will tell on that one. So far the weatherman has missed a lot of predictions this year.

Have a wonderful Monday and keep on quilting! Life is short!

February 4, 2017

17 in 2017 List and Completions

I decided to not go with One Monthly Goal (OMG) and instead I am switching to 17 in 2017 as this fits my projects and UFO’s better. So here is my list.

Nanette’s 17 in 2017 Projects (see my 9 January 2017 Post for additional information).

For January I have completed all my goals, well with one exception – quilting my Oh Glory quilt. But it has now been moved over to February and hopefully finished soon.

Finished projects for January 2017. Cross off quilting of Dear Jane Quilt; Circa 2016 – Modified; Sewing Machine Cover; and Xmas Place mats for Doug and Jean.

miniature-dear-jane — Minature Dear Jane

circa-2016-miniature-finished — Miniature Circa 2016

sewing-machine-finished — Pat Sloan’s Sewing Machine Cover

placemats — Place Mats for Doug and Jean

I will now be working on catching up on A Bountiful Life – I have 4 blocks ready to prep for applique (selecting fabric) and have finished Block 6 in January – Yipee! Upon finishing the next 4 blocks I will then be half-way through with this project. There are a total of 20 blocks. It is similar to the Australian Version of Civil War Bride. I am saving the more difficult blocks for the end!

bountiful-life-block-6 — Grapevine and Swooping “Yellow and Orange” Bird

I am currently working on Section 4 of Stonefields by Susan Smith; Margaret Potts Quilt – a BOM with the Baltimore Applique Society, Brinton Hall (EPP project), and Handful of Scraps (EPP project). All of my applique projects will be on going and hopefully will have Stonefield’s and Brinton Hall completed by the end of the year. I am almost finished with Section 4 of Stonefield’s and have 6 more Sections – there are 121 blocks in the quilt. This is my center medallion for Brinton Hall. I am doing it in batik and need to sew all the hexagons around the 7 blocks. I am used Asian prints for those blocks. I am going to re-design the remainder of the quilt, just need a nudge to get going on completing the center!!!

Final Setting for the Medallion Center of Brinton Hall — Brinton Hall

For my new projects I am going to work from my list of 13 “Waiting in the Wings” Quilts See above list. I am also adding the Quiltmania 2017 Mystery Quilt 2017. (I am not endorsing Homestead Hearth – they had the pictures of the first 2 blocks). I have the first 2 blocks prepared and ready for reverse applique! Think I will be seeing a lot of dots when I finish it because I could not purchase enough of the background fabric that the Designer used. Quilt stores are holding it for kits. Hope I did not select the wrong fabric for the background! Time will tell.

When we are under stress in our lives – applique saves us because it is so calming.

Have a great Super Bowl week-end I would like to thank everyone for providing me comfort at this time in my life.

February 2, 2017

One Monthly Goal (OMG) for February

There is one common thing that all quilters have. When we hurt, tired, or want to relax, we quilt or do hand work! I do not know what I would do without my love of quilting. It is one of the most rewarding hobby to have and quilting has helped me get through some difficult times in the last 3 years. I completed all of January’s goals with the exception of quilting Oh Glory! But she is loaded and ready to go. I plan on having the quilt finished in the next couple of days.

Quilts to be Quilted:

Enduring Legacy
Colonial Ladies (Wanda’s quilt)
Threads of Memory
Miscellaneous small wall hangings

Applique/Hand Work Projects:

A Bountiful Life (BOM) Prep 4 blocks
Margaret Potts (BAS BOM) 6 blocks
Stonefields (On-Going) Complete Section 4
Brinton Hall (EPP project) Sew Hexigons together for Medallion
Quiltmania BOM Mystery quilt
Snowman in Blue – Start Project (Embroidery)
Kathy Smithz BOM Project – Prep and work on Block 2 (Embroidery)

Pieced Projects:

RSC 2017 Monthly Blocks
Robin’s Nest
Dresden Plates Project

OK – now let’s see how I do. Applique projects are ongoing each month. The embroidery projects have not been started yet. My back brace has really helped me so I know if life settles down and I continue to feel better maybe I can catch up on my projects – that is my main goal.

Have a blessed day and it looks like 6 more weeks of winter!

February 2, 2017

A Tale of Two Sons – Darryl Scott Cook and Richard Lee Gill

I was notified Monday that my only son, Richard Lee Gill had passed away. He was 53 years old. He had heart problems and was a diabetic. Richard was a 6’5″ giant of a man with not one mean bone in his body. He had a heart of gold. He never said bad things about anyone. He was loved by many friends in the Corpus Christi, Texas area where he was raised by his Father and Grandmother. He was known as “Tiny” by many of the beloved friends and I know that their hearts are now breaking. He loved living by the water and his passion was fishing. He loved to make fishing poles and had a talent for drawing when he was younger. I have memories of the times I had been with my son. He loved to make people laugh. May he rest in peace.

In 2015 we lost Darryl Scott Cook, my husband’s first-born to lung cancer at the age of 51. It is a difficult to lose your children while still alive, but it seems to be happening more and more these days to parents our age. It has been a very difficult time losing Darryl because he was closer to us, but for Clay and I to have lost both of our first-born children within 15 months is difficult. Darryl and Richard will be missed.

Time heals all wounds and we will survive this. We will be bringing Richard home in the next few weeks and he will be placed next to Darryl’s Urn in our home. It is comforting to know that I gave him life and now in death he will remain with me always.